Favorite Foto Friday #70 - MERRY CHRISTMAS!

And to all a good night...

Christmas was a good day for our family. We were able to celebrate with all of our little family and a few friends as well. I hope that you had a wonderful and blessed day as well.

Here are my favorite pictures from the day... my kids with my mom (Nana) in the morning and in the afternoon with my dad (Papa).



And one of Sophie and her Pony that she got from her Papa. This is about how close she will get to it!

Merry Christmas!!!

Here is Mr. Linky!!



Next week... post your ONE favorite photo from 2008 or your celebration of the new year!! Yes, I know... a challenge to just post one... but I know you can do it!

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours!

PEACE * LOVE * JOY

Favorite Foto Friday #69 - HO HO HO

Sorry I have not been posting much since Guatemala... I am still wrapping myself around the amazing things that we were fortunate enough to experience while we were there. There is so much need, so much heartache, so much beauty, so much that my heart is still trying to make sense of. I promise to post many many more pictures once I am able to digest more of the wonders we experienced while we were there!

And, unfortunately, the realities of real life back at home has kept me very distracted. Please keep Grant in your prayers as we begin yet a new chapter of his life with uncertain possibilities ahead.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This week's FFF has no theme, but I am going to use Visit with Santa!

I am so proud of my little Bug! She has always been completely scared by any mention of Santa. Last year, she even insisted that Santa not bring her any presents, only mommy. We have been casually strolling by the Big Man in the mall the past couple weeks and I have been letting her wave and watch the other kids. Wednesday morning, she woke up and informed me that she wanted to sit in Santa's lap. So... we made a date night to celebrate Morgan getting her drivers license by going out to dinner and then the girls would go see Santa. She was very excited in line...

But not so sure once she walked toward him... Sissy had to hold her on her lap, but she was there... and not that happy about it.


Morgan was Santa's helper last year at the mall and she helped Sophie talk to him. Since this Santa is crazy about Morgan, he was very patient with her little sister.

Hmmm...maybe this Big Guy isn't all that bad...small smile appearing.

OK, she smiled for the camera, but you can see the tears were falling.

Then... to our surprise, she told Morgan that she would sit on his lap by herself! She told him she wants a Pony and a Princess (guess what I bought at Target last night)!

Not such a bad guy, after all!

And, here is the official picture... notice the crocodile tears on her cheek. Deer in the headlights for sure!

And, I know you are probably wondering about her dress. Our very talented FFF friend, Melinda, made it for Sophie. You may want to drop her a note if you are interested in one! She did a fabulous job!


I just love my baby Bug!! She has my heart in the palm of her cute little hand!!

Since next week's FFF falls the day after Christmas, I think it is appropriate to post your favorite picture from the big day! If you do not celebrate Christmas, I hope that you choose a picture that shows your family in celebration of something blessed to you.

Here is Mr. Linky! Merry Christmas everybody!

Guatemala Recap

(A night in Antigua... just our little group minus Holly...)

Holy cow!! Tricia just received the final stats from our trip... drumroll please...

We are exceedingly humbled and excited to share our final stats from our trip and collaborative efforts with our sister group!! Thank you, Cheri, for compiling our final data! Are you sitting down??!

Drum-roll, please!

13,413 PEOPLE & ANIMALS SERVED !

$69,310 TOTAL CASH & SUPPLIES DONATED !

Project Activities Recap
Medical Clinic Activities: 400 patients received medical care, 50 diabetic patients received equip/meds/instruction, 25 patients referred for additional tests/surgeries; Volunteers included: 1 doctor, 2 PA’s, 2 nurse practitioners, 3 translators, and 2 volunteers.

Veterinary Clinic Activites: 88 spay/neutering surgeries, 45 Rabies vaccinations; Volunteers included: 3 Veterinarians, 7 Vet students from Guatemala, and 6 volunteers.

Tamale Baskets: 1000 baskets packed and distributed during our week, 12,000 people will enjoy a holiday meal; 12 volunteers shared with holiday party group.

Orphanage and School Parties: 25 orphans received new shoes, new orphanage furniture, Christmas gifts, and party; 850 school children received Christmas gifts and party; 12 volunteers shared with tamale group.

Computer Project: stayed tuned for an exciting announcement in a few days... 1 programmer, 3 volunteers.

Supplies Donations Recap totaling $44,000!!
$30,000 in medical supplies were donated/purchased and $10,000 in veterinary supplies were donated/purchased, and $4,000 in supplies for orphanage parties, orphan shoes, furniture, and village christmas parties were donated

Cash Donations Recap totaling $25,310
$3,645 donated to our general projects;
$3,500 donated to the vet clinic;
$13,500 donated by Feed The Dream for Tamale Baskets;
$1,800 donated for orphanage and school holiday parties;
$2,865 donated directly to Mayan Families through links from our website.

GRAND TOTAL OF $69,310 TOTAL CASH & SUPPLIES DONATED ! UNREAL!

I can't express how deeply grateful we all are to each of you who joined our team and made this all possible. Thank you for being the change and providing every day miracles in Guatemala last week!

Wordless Wednesday

Back home...

...and back to reality. Being in Guatemala was so surreal. The beauty of the land and the people are in such sharp contrast to the utter poverty. Yet, we were almost always surrounded by smiles and appreciation for the smallest of things... a piece of candy, a beanie baby, a hug, a touch, a smile.


I was able to spend three days with my sponsored child, Dayli and her little sister, Fristy. It was so wonderful to see her again and this year, we really connected and our time together was so precious. She gave me a tour of her home which really lets me know of her family's needs. I was able to meet her new baby brother, who is getting ready to turn one on December 18th and My friend, Holly, was able to spend some time with her older brother, Salvador, who is disabled and determine some ways to help him as well. What a beautiful family!


To top it off... I was able to be there to celebrate Dayli's 7th birthday on December 10th and buy her some new sandals and a cake. It is the first time anybody in their family has been able to celebrate with a cake for their birthday... her smile was unforgettable! There were tears all around when we had to leave.

I will take some time over the coming week to recap several things I do not want to forget about our adventure there. Tricia did a wonderful job blogging while we were there, so I hope you stopped by her blog to follow along. We had such a wonderful travel group... Tricia, Mary, Holly, Maureen, Morgan and I had a fabulous time working side by side. It was also wonderful to work along side many of the ladies with the Helping Mayan Families team. So much was accomplished over the span of a week.

We spent many 12 hour days working as a team and were so tired by the end of the day, we really did not have time to blog or do any sightseeing. We were able to relax a bit on our final day in Antigua. It was even more beautiful than I remembered. We scored in the market and brought home some wonderful items! We walked through Casa Santo Domingo at night... it was breathtaking! I cannot wait to go back someday with my little Bug!

Oh... and the puppy... still as cute as ever and still in Panajachel! But here is Morgan with her little perrito.

Hola from Panajachel!

Sunday in Pana has been glorious! We hosted a Christmas Party at the Casa Hogar Feliz today (an orphanage) and it was just amazing. These children have suffered the most unimaginable abuse and no longer live with their families. They are children who will never know the love of a parent or the safety of a family to protect them... they will grow up as orppans yet they showed joy, spirit and love to all of us who came to bring them some Christmas in their lives for just a day. They smiled, they laughed, they marveled at receiving Christmas presents from people they have never met. Some of them received presents for the very first times in their lives! The joy on their faces will never be forgotten, for both Morgan and myself.

Catherine and Mary... the girls you sponsored, Cristina (not Reina Kristina) and Selyna are absolute sweethearts and I can´t wait to send you pictures! They were two who had never received gifts before in their life and have only recently come to the orphanage. The gifts were PERFECT and the director of the orphanage told me how amazing it was that their gifts fit them SO perfectly. I wish you could have been there to see them and love on them! We took all the kids to the shoe store this morning and each child got a brand new pair of shoes. They got them with a little wiggle room to spare and were so happy! The kids put on a musical show and dance for us at the hogar when we arrived. It was so totally amazing! They were all dressed in traditional Mayan clothing and had learned to tell us in English ¨my name is ___¨. I can´t tell you how amazing this day was.

A little girl named Tomasa looks so much like I imagine Sophie will look like in a few years with the same timid little personality. I sat staring at her for the longest time when she was not looking. Morgan thought so too.

We also worked back at Mayan Families today distributing tamale baskets and handing out shoes and clothing. The Guatemalan people we have met are most gracious and appreciative of every little thing they receive and thank us with kisses on each cheek and hugs. I worked all day beside a young 11 year old boy named Ismael. He is 11 years old and works full time to support his family... his single mother and 6 year old brother, Alan. He is such a hard worker and was so fun to be with all day. He is working hard to learn English and we practiced on each other all afternon. He looked through all the pictures on my camera and asked me about everything that was on there. He was most excited to see the snow in the pictures at Grant´s school from last weekend. We happened to see him walking home tonight on our way home from dinner with his family and took him into the pastry shop to buy them some pastries amd cookies. I had inexplicably picked up some boy clothing at a consignment shop before I left (an Old Navy fleece, some blue jeans, random shirts, etc.) and plan to give them to him and his brother when we see him tomorrow. There are some kids that just touch your heart and make an impression in your life... this boy is one of them. I am going to ask Sharon about sponsoring him for school if he is not already sponsored. He has such potential to be a remarkable young man with the right opportunity in his life. And, you all know how I feel about giving young men with potential the opportunity to be all they can be in life!

Morgan found a 4 week old puppy that had been abandoned on the side of the road and brought to Mayan Families this weekend... she is begging me to bring it home with us. I don´t think that will happen, but she sure had a wonderful time cuddling that little guy all afternoon and I think the puppy enjoyed the love and attention from her as well.

Tonight, we went out to dinner at El Bistro (the same place we went last year), it was awesome. We are disappointed that our hotel does not have internet, so we are at an internet cafe down the street tonight. Morgan is in heaven on facebook for the night, not sure I will be able to pull her out of here later. Tricia is busy blogging with pictures right behing me in the internet cafe (yes, we are such geeks), so be sure to check her blog as she just pushed send with pictures of our time at the shoe store this morning.

Tomorrow morning, we have the Christmas party at the preschool in the new San Jorge community center. We are really looking forward to it!!

I had not planned on this update being so long... but the day has been absolutely wonderful and I just don´t want to forget it. I will have to add pictures when I can use my laptop to download pictures.

Love you all!